Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
October 5, 1993
(Phone: 202/358-1979)
Jane Hutchison
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.
(Phone: 415/604-4968)
RELEASE: 93-180
PORTABLE COMPUTER TO HELP ASTRONAUTS CONDUCT SCIENCE
NASA astronauts on the next Space Shuttle mission will test an
"intelligent" computer designed to help them work more efficiently
and improve the quality of science in space.
Known as the Astronaut Science Advisor (ASA), the system will
help astronauts get the most out of the time allotted to an
experiment. The ASA will undergo its first flight test during the
14-day Spacelab Life Sciences mission, scheduled for launch in
early October.
Also known as Principal Investigator (P.I.) in a Box, the system
was developed by NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View,
Calif., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
Cambridge, Mass. Dr. Larry Young of MIT conceived the idea for
the system during a sabbatical at Ames and Stanford University in
1987.
The critical resource in flight experiments is time, said Dr.
Silvano Colombano of the Ames Artificial Intelligence Research
Branch. The ASA has the potential to fundamentally change the way
astronauts interact with ground-based scientists in the space
station era.
It helps astronauts increase their productivity and improve the
scientific quality of the data they collect. Artificial
intelligence is a subfield of computer science that seeks to give
computers the ability to solve problems typically requiring human
intelligence.
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Another critical factor is the limited ability of either an
Earth-bound scientist or the astronaut performing a test to
correct problems or follow new leads as the experiment unfolds in
space. Having served as a principal investigator on several Space
Shuttle missions, Young wanted to use a computer to help guide
astronauts during life science experiments.
Using a Macintosh PowerBook computer and a combination of
commercial and NASA-developed software, the ASA provides the crew
with detailed information about the experiment.
"It's the next best thing to having the principal investigator on
board," said Colombano. "Our goal is to increase the astronaut's
ability to be a scientific collaborator with the ground-based
principal investigator."
The ASA has four major functions: diagnosis and trouble-shooting
of experiment equipment, data collection, management of
experimental procedures and detection of interesting data. The
ASA recognizes something as interesting by comparing the data it
collects with pre-determined rules set up by the principal
investigator for analyzing data.
The developers of the ASA hope to prove that an on-board
assistant can significantly enhance the crews ability to perform
science experiments. It also would reduce reliance on
air-to-ground communications, said Colombano.
The ASA was ground-tested during the first Spacelab Life Sciences
mission in June 1991. During its flight test in September, it
will support the Rotating Dome Experiment. Young is the Principal
Investigator for this experiment, as well as an alternate payload
specialist on this mission.
The Rotating Dome Experiment will study how the conflict between
inner ear signals and visual cues contributes to space motion
sickness. It also will measure how human adaptation to
microgravity affects this interaction. Each test session involves
two astronauts, one acting as the subject and the other as the
operator.
If the astronauts have the time, they can investigate any
interesting information identified by the ASA. They also can use
the computer to note any unusual circumstances that might affect
the data collected. This will provide Young with additional
insights when he analyzes the data after the flight.
The ASA keeps track of the time spent on the experiment. If a
test session is behind schedule, the ASA will suggest steps in the
procedure to delete with minimal effect on the collection of data.
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An astronaut can ask the system to propose a new sequence of
steps that could be used to get the most and best data in the time
remaining. The new sequence takes into account the interesting
data and results of previous sessions.
The system also can lead an astronaut through trouble-shooting,
step by step. If the problem is in a low-priority item, the
system might recommend not making the repair. Instead, the crew
could use that time to get additional data.
Colombano said "his group hopes to create a general purpose
system to aid science experiments in space. Such a system will be
particularly critical on longer missions and on the space
station," he said. "It's going to be harder and harder to train
crews to do everything, so they're going to need this kind of help
a lot more."
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